Phew, those were some busy days (and mostly nights) I had, but it all seems to work out quite well, so it's time to infom you about stuff that's happening 
1. The Business Plan and Investors
The most important thing to get investors is to provide them with a well-thought plan.
They don't want to lose money, they want to make money in the end. So the plan needs to be realistic, you need to know how much you need to create and sell your product and how much sales you will get, etc.
It took me quite a while to calculate all the costs, take into account that some parts are paid in USD and the USD / EUR conversion rate can change, etc.
I also included additional costs for marketing and development, maybe hire someone for actively work on the OS or port software, etc. and make the Pandora more known and popular.
The more users and developers we can get, the better for all of us!
That was quite a bit of work, but I finished the plan two days ago and gave it to my really helpful tax consultant, who is quite experienced with such things as well (she helped some companies already to find investors).
She thinks the business plan is very well thought of. I've been very careful with costs to make sure I have MORE money than needed.
Actually, she told me she'll also invest, so that's a good sign, isn't it?
With the plan, she calculated the value of my company and the possible realistic profit for investors.
My lawyers have already started to work on the contracts for possible investors (together with my tax consultant) and I will create an english version of the business plan within the next few days (the current one is German).
So basically, we're almost ready for some investments!
If you're interested in investing some money into the Pandora, send me an eMail to EvilDragon@openpandora.org (unless you haven't done that yet).
I'll contact you as soon as the english version of the business plan and the contracts are ready.
What's needed if you want to invest?
Well, the absolute minimum would be 2000 EUR.
However, that value would probably only make sense if you live within the EU. Yes, you would get part of the profit made, however, depending on where you live, bank transfer costs, conversion costs or taxes you might have to pay on such profit would take most of that profit away.
That's something you'd need to check out first. Bank transfer costs could be skipped by using PayPal, but the conversion costs from EUR to other currencies could eat a lot of the profit.
2. From Texas to Germany - to a company which is being praised by its customers
As you might know, we already own a lot of parts for the next few thousand Pandoras (the ones from Texas Instruments, to be exact).
One of the biggest distributor for TI parts is EBV, and that's where Craig bought the parts from.
However, EBV is also the distributor where Global Components (the new PCB company) buys the TI parts from.
I was having a chat today with my contact from EBV (also a bavarian company, BTW)
I was talking with him about the parts and they offered to move them from Texas to Germany. This saves us costs and trouble and is a really nice and helpful move from them
Another encouraging thing:
We were also talking about Global Components, and EBV has been working with them for years.
It seems customers are praising Global Components. They have a VERY good reputation and are very reliable.
That's something great
I'm really happy to have found a reliable company now
3. Preorders coming soon!
As mentioned in my last post, more preorders for Pandoras will be taken soon!
No payment in advance needed, but please only order if you're really interested in getting one.
If you always wanted to get a second unit or never ordered because you didn't want to spend money upfront - here's your chance. No risk involved.
Once the Pandora is ready, you will be informed and after you did your payment, the unit will be shipped to you.
In case you are still waiting for your preordered paid unit, there's no need to reorder here.
Your order is valid and will be shipped to you from either the shipments that are being sent from CircuitCo every once in a while or from the Germany company - whatever is faster.
4. Pandora repairs and OS upgrades
You probably know that I'm doing most of the Pandora repairs (bad nubs, bad LCD cables).
I was pretty busy with the business plan (top priority right now is to get everything going properly!), so I didn't have much time to repair units.
I fixed 8 Pandoras this week, about 15 are left to be fixed.
When the whole investor / business plan thing is done and I've finally signed the contract for the Pandora production, I've got a lot more time and repairs will happen way faster.
I also want to continue on the OS and finalize HF6!
I'm sorry it takes so long, but I'm just one person and can't split up yet (maybe someone should invent that )
5. Conclusion
So all in all, I'm content right now.
Of course, it would've been great if we never had these issues with CircuitCo, but it seems at least here in Germany things are working out.
The business plan is looking promising, Global Components has a very good reputation and is being praised by its customers so the only thing left now are investors.
Something that is certainly possible.
Once that has been done, nothing should prevent the Pandora production from happening!
1. The Business Plan and Investors
The most important thing to get investors is to provide them with a well-thought plan.
They don't want to lose money, they want to make money in the end. So the plan needs to be realistic, you need to know how much you need to create and sell your product and how much sales you will get, etc.
It took me quite a while to calculate all the costs, take into account that some parts are paid in USD and the USD / EUR conversion rate can change, etc.
I also included additional costs for marketing and development, maybe hire someone for actively work on the OS or port software, etc. and make the Pandora more known and popular.
The more users and developers we can get, the better for all of us!
That was quite a bit of work, but I finished the plan two days ago and gave it to my really helpful tax consultant, who is quite experienced with such things as well (she helped some companies already to find investors).
She thinks the business plan is very well thought of. I've been very careful with costs to make sure I have MORE money than needed.
Actually, she told me she'll also invest, so that's a good sign, isn't it?
With the plan, she calculated the value of my company and the possible realistic profit for investors.
My lawyers have already started to work on the contracts for possible investors (together with my tax consultant) and I will create an english version of the business plan within the next few days (the current one is German).
So basically, we're almost ready for some investments!
If you're interested in investing some money into the Pandora, send me an eMail to EvilDragon@openpandora.org (unless you haven't done that yet).
I'll contact you as soon as the english version of the business plan and the contracts are ready.
What's needed if you want to invest?
Well, the absolute minimum would be 2000 EUR.
However, that value would probably only make sense if you live within the EU. Yes, you would get part of the profit made, however, depending on where you live, bank transfer costs, conversion costs or taxes you might have to pay on such profit would take most of that profit away.
That's something you'd need to check out first. Bank transfer costs could be skipped by using PayPal, but the conversion costs from EUR to other currencies could eat a lot of the profit.
2. From Texas to Germany - to a company which is being praised by its customers
As you might know, we already own a lot of parts for the next few thousand Pandoras (the ones from Texas Instruments, to be exact).
One of the biggest distributor for TI parts is EBV, and that's where Craig bought the parts from.
However, EBV is also the distributor where Global Components (the new PCB company) buys the TI parts from.
I was having a chat today with my contact from EBV (also a bavarian company, BTW)
I was talking with him about the parts and they offered to move them from Texas to Germany. This saves us costs and trouble and is a really nice and helpful move from them
Another encouraging thing:
We were also talking about Global Components, and EBV has been working with them for years.
It seems customers are praising Global Components. They have a VERY good reputation and are very reliable.
That's something great
I'm really happy to have found a reliable company now
3. Preorders coming soon!
As mentioned in my last post, more preorders for Pandoras will be taken soon!
No payment in advance needed, but please only order if you're really interested in getting one.
If you always wanted to get a second unit or never ordered because you didn't want to spend money upfront - here's your chance. No risk involved.
Once the Pandora is ready, you will be informed and after you did your payment, the unit will be shipped to you.
In case you are still waiting for your preordered paid unit, there's no need to reorder here.
Your order is valid and will be shipped to you from either the shipments that are being sent from CircuitCo every once in a while or from the Germany company - whatever is faster.
4. Pandora repairs and OS upgrades
You probably know that I'm doing most of the Pandora repairs (bad nubs, bad LCD cables).
I was pretty busy with the business plan (top priority right now is to get everything going properly!), so I didn't have much time to repair units.
I fixed 8 Pandoras this week, about 15 are left to be fixed.
When the whole investor / business plan thing is done and I've finally signed the contract for the Pandora production, I've got a lot more time and repairs will happen way faster.
I also want to continue on the OS and finalize HF6!
I'm sorry it takes so long, but I'm just one person and can't split up yet (maybe someone should invent that
)5. Conclusion
So all in all, I'm content right now.
Of course, it would've been great if we never had these issues with CircuitCo, but it seems at least here in Germany things are working out.
The business plan is looking promising, Global Components has a very good reputation and is being praised by its customers so the only thing left now are investors.
Something that is certainly possible.
Once that has been done, nothing should prevent the Pandora production from happening!
